first-generation

Born and raised in Paris, France, Ava Uppal, BS Marketing ’19, fondly recalls baking with her mother and turning simple ingredients into heartfelt memories. Now, as a part-time MBA student and a working mother of two, she’s a small business owner and author of a new cookbook.

Alizé Rubiera is the first ADVANCE Mason Virginia Promise student to enroll at the university. She comes to George Mason from Germanna Community College.

BS in Community Health graduate Kristen Alleyne accredits her College of Public Health courses for giving her the skills and confidence to excel in diverse public health settings.

A team from George Mason University is using augmented reality (AR) to create a smartphone app that will provide first-generation ADVANCE students with a virtual campus tour of the Fairfax Campus as they prepare to transfer from Northern Virginia Community College.

Mason’s Honors College and Early Identification Program (EIP) promote access to inclusive excellence. EIP serves first-gen high school students and offers programming such as the College Application Coaches program. EIP alumni entering the Honors College are awarded full tuition scholarships. The partnership strengthens EIP’s mission of educating the whole student and advances the Honors College’s commitment to increasing access to transformative academic, civic, and professional experiences.

Kristen Alleyne, a senior at George Mason University, has been named a 2023 Public Health Scholar through the John R. Lewis CDC Undergraduate Public Health Scholars program. She will join a cohort at UCLA to gain hands-on experience in public health. Alleyne is also involved in various student organizations on campus, including the Caribbean Student Association and Patriots for Health Assistance. The Office of Fellowships helped her with the application process.

Sisc Johnson, a George Mason University School of Art student and staff member, will be the first in her family to graduate from college this May.

In the Feather Identification Lab at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Mason alum Carla Dove identifies the specific birds involved in collisions, with samples coming to her from various branches of the U.S. military, commercial airlines, and more

A double major and member of the Honors College, Juan Escalera came to Mason as an alumnus of the university’s Early Identification Program.

Mason’s first-generation students are no strangers to overcoming bias or barriers to attend college. Their remarkable tenacity keeps them striving for more.